Flame retardant textiles play an important role in a wide range of sectors and within specific applications. They are an essential part of residential and commercial applications, are used heavily within the healthcare sector and are the basis for protective clothing and equipment for emergency services, especially the fire brigade. Fire retardant fabric is put to use as a necessary safety feature for many types of commercial and residential settings, seen as a safe option as it takes much longer to burn that it would a normal fabric that could be deemed quite combustible.
The longer a flame takes to burn through a fabric, the higher the properties are in terms of how flame retardant it is. Flame retardant textiles are designed to help both the person wearing it, or in close contact to it, and customers and passers-by, whether in a retail environment, or just other people in a residential and healthcare setting.
Accidents involving fire often include textiles burning fast and helping the spread of the flames. The weight and the weave of fabrics can exacerbate this spread of fire if it is not the right type of material. This is where a manufacturer of flame retardant textiles understands what is required from then to increase the level of health and fire safety for a premises. Every environment will have a different legal requirement as to the level of retardancy required for textiles. This means that for some environments where there is a greater risk of fire inherent due to the type of work taking place and the materials present, it is necessary to go through more stringent testing processes for textiles used. This will help to increase the level of fire safety in the premises and ensure that there is a higher level of flame retardancy for that particular fire retardant textile, helping to reduce the spread of flames in the risk assessment of the area.
When looking at the terms fire retardant textiles and flame retardant fabrics, is there a difference? Fire retardant fabrics are manufactured to offer greater resistance to fire and flames, reducing the hazard that fire brings, rather than actively stopping it from spreading. Flame retardant textiles on the other hand are designed to actively stop a fire from spreading, woven from flame resistant yarns in many cases, with special coatings and the use of specialist, modern techniques, to ensure that a textile can ‘self-extinguish’ in some cases when exposed to a flame.
Manufacturers of flame retardant textiles understand the processes and technical expertise required to deliver to a high and consistent standard where safety is concerned. There are a few different manufacturing techniques involved in creating flame and fire retardant textiles for a wide range of exacting industries and applications. Finding the most suitable textiles for your specific needs is vital, as it could make the difference to the safety of people living in a residential building, being cared for in a hospital, or customers in a retail environment.
